SimCity Beta Launches Next Week

Call all of your contractors and construction crews, because we're only seven days out from being able to break ground on a brand new SimCity. The SimCity beta is set to kick off next weekend, and now you and your fellow world builders can sign up to take part in the festivities.

Announced through Twitter bright and early this morning, the SimCity beta is set to take place from Jan. 25-28, giving participants a chance to play a “one hour slice” of the game before it finally launches on March 5.

This latest version of SimCity offers all of the road paving, building constructing, disaster handling goodness you've come to expect of the storied franchise but, this time, there's been an added emphasis on multiplayer. Friends (or total strangers) can set up their cities in “regions,” giving them the ability to visit each other's creation, send gifts or hindrances (like a flock of pooping pigeons) and even effect the other players' cities simply based on how well their own city is doing.

Over at the beta registration site, a statement from developer Maxis states that the team is hard at work putting the final touches on the game and that the upcoming beta will help finalize things before the launch in early March.

“We are extremely excited with our progress so far and would especially like to thank you, the fans, for your continued participation and support,” the statement reads. “We are humbled by your passion. It fuels us to work even harder to make the game we've been dreaming of, and deliver the SimCity you've always wanted.”

To participate in next weekend's beta, simply head to the registration site linked above, click on the button and give them all of your valuable information.